Outgoing Attorney General Merrick Garland plans to release the final report by Special Counsel Jack Smith on his failed case against President-elect Donald Trump, as per a new court filing.
As Fox News reports, the Biden Administration’s Department of Justice (DOJ) on Wednesday told the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals that, if an injunction is lifted, Garland will release the first volume of the report that Smith planned to release to Congress and the public. This volume would focus on the unproven allegations that President-elect Trump tried to overturn the results of the 2020 election, which many Americans believe was fraudulent and possibly stolen.
Garland noted that he would not release the second volume of Smith’s report, which would focus on the charges against President-elect Trump over his alleged possession of classified documents. Garland’s reasoning is that two defendants in that particular case are still facing criminal charges; as such, only the chairmen and ranking members of the Judiciary Committees in the House and Senate will be allowed to view this portion of the report.
“This limited disclosure will further the public interest in keeping congressional leadership apprised of a significant matter within the Department while safeguarding defendants’ interests,” said DOJ attorneys in their response to a motion to stop the report from being released.
In his own statement, Garland said that “As I have made clear regarding every Special Counsel who has served since I took office, I am committed to making as much of the Special Counsel’s report public as possible, consistent with legal requirements and Department policy.”
The classified documents case stems from the discovery of documents at President-elect Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, which some claimed were classified and thus not legally allowed to be kept there. However, as President, Trump had the authority to declassify any documents he wished, and thus it was technically not illegal for him to own any such documents as a former president.
In the documents case, co-defendants Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira filed emergency motions to block Smith from releasing his report. U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of Florida Aileen Cannon, who is overseeing the case, ruled in their favor and blocked the release of Smith’s report in order to “prevent irreparable harm.”
Smith’s cases have ultimately been dropped by their respective judges following Trump’s victory in the 2024 presidential election. The election case was dismissed by U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan in Washington D.C., while the documents charges against Trump specifically were dismissed by Judge Cannon in the summer.
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